Some prior art garage doors for homes and other buildings include door panels that are hinged together and which are configured to move between a closed position, wherein the door panels obstruct an opening in the building, and a raised position wherein the door panels are stored above the door opening so that the opening is unobstructed. In many garage doors, when in the raised position the door panels are positioned near the ceiling, with each door panel generally lying in the same horizontal plane. This configuration tends to obstruct a large area of the ceiling and requires a large framework of tracks and straps. This is undesirable as it makes the ceiling space unusable for storage or other uses.
Attempts have been made to overcome this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,089,989 (Pfender) discloses a door with panels that fold together in an accordion-type configuration, wherein the panels stack together when the door is in the raised position. However, this arrangement tends to be complicated, expensive to manufacture, and often requires special hinging arrangements to withstand the forces associated with panel movement between the closed position and the open position.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved garage door apparatus that overcomes at least some of the above noted disadvantages.